James Woods facts for kids

Quick facts for kids James Woods
Woods in 2015
Born	James Howard Woods (1947-04-18) April 18, 1947 (age 78) Vernal, Utah, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1969–present
Spouse(s)	Kathryn Morrison ​ ​ (m. 1980; div. 1983)​ Sarah Owen ​ ​ (m. 1989; div. 1990)​ Sara Miller-Woods ​ (m. 2021)​

James Howard Woods (born April 18, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for playing intense and fast-talking characters in movies and on stage. He has won many awards, including three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. He was also nominated for two Academy Awards.

James Woods started his acting career with small roles in plays before making his big debut on Broadway in The Penny Wars (1969). He then appeared in other plays like Borstal Boy (1970) and Moonchildren (1972). His early movie roles included The Visitors (1972) and The Way We Were (1973). He also starred in the TV miniseries Holocaust (1978) with Meryl Streep.

He became more widely known for his role as Gregory Powell in The Onion Field (1979). He received Academy Awards nominations for his roles in Salvador (1986) and Ghosts of Mississippi (1996). Some of his other famous films include Videodrome (1983), Once Upon a Time in America (1984), Casino (1995), and Contact (1997). He also worked as an executive producer for the movie Oppenheimer (2023).

On television, he won two Primetime Emmy Awards for his roles in Promise (1987) and My Name Is Bill W. (1989). He also played important characters in Citizen Cohn (1992) and Too Big to Fail (2011). He starred in the TV series Shark (2006–2008) and had a recurring role in Ray Donovan (2013). James Woods has also lent his voice to animated characters in movies like Hercules (1997) and Surf's Up (2007), and in TV shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy.

Early Life and Education

James Woods was born on April 18, 1947, in Vernal, Utah. He had one younger brother. His father, Gail Peyton Woods, was an army intelligence officer who passed away in 1960. His mother, Martha A. Woods, later ran a pre-school.

Woods grew up in Warwick, Rhode Island. He went to Pilgrim High School and graduated in 1965. He was raised Catholic and briefly served as an altar boy in church.

He went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He once said he wanted to become an eye surgeon. At MIT, he was part of a student theater group called Dramashop. He acted in and directed many plays there. In 1969, he left MIT just before graduating to become an actor. Woods has said that Tim Affleck, who was a stage manager and the father of actors Ben and Casey Affleck, helped him start his acting career.

Career Highlights

1969–1976: Starting on Broadway and Early Movies

Before his Broadway debut, James Woods appeared in 36 plays. His first Broadway show was The Penny Wars in 1969. The next year, he acted in Borstal Boy (1970) at the Lyceum Theatre. He even pretended to be British to get the part! In 1971, he returned to Broadway for The Trial of the Catonsville Nine. He also performed in Moonchildren in Washington, D.C., which later moved to Broadway in 1972. For his performance in Moonchildren, Woods won a Theatre World Award.

Woods became known as a talented Hollywood character actor, appearing in over 130 films and TV shows. His first movie role was in Elia Kazan's The Visitors in 1972. He also had a supporting role in the romantic drama The Way We Were (1973), playing Barbra Streisand's college boyfriend. He continued to act in films like The Gambler (1974) and Night Moves (1975).

1978–1989: Becoming Well-Known

Woods gained significant attention for his role in the miniseries Holocaust (1978), which aired on NBC. In this series, he played the husband of Meryl Streep's character. The show focused on a Jewish family's struggle to survive during the genocide against Jewish people by Nazi Germany. Holocaust won several Primetime Emmy Awards.

The following year, Woods took on a leading role in The Onion Field (1979), playing the character Gregory Powell. Critics praised his performance, with one saying he "deserves an Academy Award nomination." He received nominations from the Golden Globe Awards and other film critics' groups for this role.

Woods at the Primetime Emmy Awards in 1992

In the early 1980s, Woods appeared in the thriller Eyewitness (1981) and the prison drama Fast-Walking (1982). He then starred in the science-fiction film Videodrome (1983), where his performance was highly praised by critics.

He played a Jewish gangster named Maximillian "Max" Bercovicz in Sergio Leone's epic film Once Upon a Time in America (1984), alongside Robert De Niro. Woods considers this one of his favorite roles. The film was very well-received and earned an 86% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

In Oliver Stone's drama Salvador (1986), Woods played real-life journalist Richard Boyle. Critics like Roger Ebert said this was "the sort of role Woods was born to play." He won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Actor and received his first Academy Award nomination for this performance.

In 1987, Woods won his first Primetime Emmy Award for his role in the TV movie Promise. In 1989, he won his second Primetime Emmy Award for playing Bill W., the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, in the TV movie My Name Is Bill W..

In 1988, Woods starred in The Boost. ..... Woods also hosted Saturday Night Live in 1989. That same year, he acted in the courtroom drama True Believer and the family drama Immediate Family.

1990–1999: Becoming an Established Actor

James Woods was offered a role in Quentin Tarantino's first movie, Reservoir Dogs (1992), but his agent turned it down without telling him. When Woods found out, he changed agents.

That year, he played Roy Cohn in the HBO TV film Citizen Cohn (1992). His performance was called "masterful" by critics, and he received nominations for a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. He also had a supporting role in the biographical film Chaplin (1992), which starred Robert Downey Jr..

Woods played a supporting role as Lester Diamond in Martin Scorsese's Casino (1995), alongside Robert De Niro and Sharon Stone. The film was well-received by critics. Also in 1995, he played H.R. Haldeman in Oliver Stone's Nixon, starring Anthony Hopkins as Richard Nixon. Woods and the rest of the cast received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for their teamwork.

Woods at an AIDS Project Los Angeles benefit in September 1990

In Rob Reiner's film Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), Woods played Byron De La Beckwith, who assassinated civil rights leader Medgar Evers. Even though the film received mixed reviews, many critics praised Woods' performance. One newspaper article was even titled "James Woods is So Good at Being Bad." Woods received a Golden Globe Award nomination and his second Academy Award nomination for this role.

Woods voiced the character Hades in the Disney animated film, Hercules (1997). His performance was highly praised, with critics comparing his "verbal inventiveness" to that of Robin Williams in Aladdin. He continued to voice Hades in the television series (winning a Daytime Emmy Award in 2000), House of Mouse, and the Kingdom Hearts video game series. .....

2000–Present

In the 2000s, James Woods continued to lend his voice to various films and video games. He voiced Dr. Phillium Benedict in the Disney film Recess: School's Out (2001) and Falcon in Stuart Little 2 (2002). He also appeared in the thriller John Q. (2002) and had a small role in Be Cool (2005). In 2007, Woods voiced Reggie Belafonte, a short-tempered sea otter, in the animated film Surf's Up.

From 2005 to 2016, Woods had a recurring role playing himself in Seth MacFarlane's animated show Family Guy. He also continued to voice Hades in the Kingdom Hearts video games and Lex Luthor in the animated series Justice League Action since 2016. From 2006 to 2008, Woods starred in the CBS legal drama series Shark, playing a defense lawyer who becomes a prosecutor.

In 2011, Woods starred in the HBO TV drama film Too Big to Fail, based on a book about the 2008 financial crisis. He played Richard S. Fuld, Jr., the Chairman and CEO of Lehman Brothers. Critics praised his performance, and he received nominations for a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2013, Woods joined the TV series Ray Donovan in a recurring role.

Jennifer Connelly, Woods, and Robert De Niro at a screening of Once Upon a Time in America at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012

Woods also appeared as a fictional version of himself in an episode of The Simpsons and in several episodes of Family Guy. He has also lent his voice to video games like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. In 2012, Woods attended a special screening of a restored version of Once Upon a Time in America (1984) at the 65th Cannes Film Festival. He attended with Robert De Niro and Jennifer Connelly.

In 2017, Woods made a public appearance at the Writers Guild of America Awards to honor his friend Oliver Stone, a director he had worked with three times. Woods served as an executive producer on Christopher Nolan's biographical thriller Oppenheimer (2023). He was thanked by the film's producer, Charles Roven, when the movie won the Academy Award for Best Picture, for giving him the book that inspired the film.

Personal Life

Interests

Woods playing poker at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in California in 2005

James Woods enjoys playing video games. He also deals in antiques in Rhode Island. Woods is a big fan of poker and plays in many tournaments. As of 2018, he has had over 80 successes in poker tournaments.

9/11 Experience

On August 1, 2001, James Woods reported noticing four men acting suspiciously on a flight from Boston to Los Angeles. He told the co-pilot about his concerns, and these were passed on to the FAA. On the evening of September 11, 2001, Woods called the FBI and shared his concerns again. The FBI interviewed him the next morning. Woods believed he had seen four of the hijackers responsible for the September 11 attacks on that flight, who were possibly studying the flight for their plans. He later identified two of the hijackers from pictures.

Acting Credits

James Woods' career has spanned over five decades. He has worked with many famous filmmakers, including John Carpenter, Elia Kazan, Martin Scorsese, David Cronenberg, Sergio Leone, Clint Eastwood, Sydney Pollack, Oliver Stone, Rob Reiner, and Sofia Coppola.

Selected credits:

Awards and Nominations

James Woods has been nominated for two Academy Awards for his roles in Salvador (1987) and Ghosts of Mississippi (1996). He has also received many awards and nominations for his TV work, including a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Promise (1986). He won his second Primetime Emmy Award for My Name is Bill W. (1989). He also received three Screen Actors Guild Award nominations and three Independent Spirit Award nominations, winning one for Salvador.

• On October 15, 1998, Woods received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Blvd.

Images for kids

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  Woods playing poker at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in California in 2005

See also

In Spanish: James Woods (actor) para niños